What are viruses, trojans, worms, and malware?

Viruses are programs designed to spread from one computer to another and to interfere with your computer use. Viruses can infect your computer simply by you opening e-mail attachments or visiting infectious websites via "drive-by downloads." Viruses can slow down your computer, prevent Internet access, delete data on your computer, and use your e-mail program to spread themselves and your personal data to anyone you know (and even people you don't).

Trojans are frequently disguised as freeware you would otherwise pay for, including peer-to-peer file sharing of music, videos, and pirated software. Trojans do not self-replicate. Trojans can give others complete access to your computer and report every keystroke you make. They can disable your virus protection and firewall software, and pretend to be anti-virus software when they are not.

Worms can infect your computer simply by having the computer connected to the Internet without current software patches installed. Worms are self-spreading.

Malware refers to any malicious software on a computer.

YES!

Security threats could include malware or any other type of unauthorized access to your computer. If your computer is compromised by malware or another threat, you could encounter slow performance, limited to no Internet access, the deletion of data from your computer, files and personal information distributed over the Internet from your computer without your knowledge, record every keystroke you make (including passwords and credit card information), and give individuals complete access to your computer without your knowledge or permission.

How can I protect my computer?

• Install software updates (Windows Update for Windows computers, Software Update for Mac computers) when they are made available. Do not delay in installing the updates available from Microsoft and Apple, as these updates are the first line of defense in protecting your computer from security threats.
• Always have up-to-date security software (such as virus protection) installed on your computer. Saint Mary’s provides Bitdefender security software for free to all students for their personally-owned macOS and Windows computers.
• Saint Mary's College will NEVER ask you for your password over e-mail or via a Google Form. Any messages asking for your password, your identity factors/codes, or financial information via e-mail or text are NOT legitimate and should be deleted immediately. Saint Mary’s will not send an e-mail to you regarding your account, financial information, or campus employment from an address other than one ending in saintmarys.edu.
• If a message (e-mail, chat, text) isn't personalized, don't click on the links or open the attachments. You should never open an attachment you are not expecting.
• Don't click on any link if you are not 100% certain where it will go. Stick with reputable websites for your information. Not every link found with Google is a safe one.
• If a free copy of software/music/video sounds too good to be true, it probably is. It could be bait for a drive-by (hidden in the background) download of malware.
• If you believe your computer may have malware currently being installed (for example, you see a suspicious pop-up about anti-virus or anti-malware software), push the power button on your computer and hold the button in until the machine turns off. Don't click on the cancel or X buttons in the windows.
• If you have installed a Windows operating system on an Apple computer, that computer is just as vulnerable to malware as any other computer running Windows. Make sure that you take the same precautions as other Windows users to protect your computer - keeping your version of Windows up-to-date with Windows Update and installing and keeping your Windows virus protection software up-to-date (in addition to your macOS virus protection software).

What happens if my personal computer becomes infected?

Saint Mary's College and Information Technology are not responsible for any loss of data or other damage caused by malware. You are responsible for backing up your personal files on a regular basis. Your personal network drive is backed up automatically every night by Information Technology, and access to Google Workspace for Education includes Google Drive for cloud storage of your important files.

• Students:

  • If your computer is infected with malware, you are responsible for cleaning the unwanted software off your computer to protect your personal information and to prevent the malware from affecting others.
  • The ResNet Office provides assistance with malware removal, but the process may an hour or more. You must be present with your computer in the ResNet Office the entire time your computer is being worked on.
  • If your computer is infected with malware that is self-spreading (via e-mail or over the network in some fashion) or your computer is suspected of having malware because it is displaying symptoms of infection over the network, Information Technology will block Internet access from your computer until the infection has been removed and the ResNet Office has witnessed a scan for malware on your computer, indicating the computer is clean.

• Faculty and Staff:

  • Information Technology does not provide support for personally-owned computers. You may wish to use Bitdefender or Malwarebytes to try and remove the malware on your own or find a reputable technical support provider off-campus.

What happens if my College-owned computer becomes infected?

• Students:

  • If you are using a College-provided computer in your role as a student employee, please have your supervisor contact the Helpdesk (helpdesk@saintmarys.edu) immediately so the malware can be removed from your device. Depending on the invasiveness of the malware, Information Technology may need to reimage your computer to ensure the infection is completely removed. A timeline for how quickly the malware will be removed cannot be provided, as it depends on the severity of the malware and the number of potentially infected computers that could also be affected.

• Faculty and Staff:

  • If your College-provided computer is infected with malware, please contact the Helpdesk (helpdesk@saintmarys.edu) immediately so the malware can be removed from your device. Depending on the invasiveness of the malware, Information Technology may need to reimage your computer to ensure the infection is completely removed. A timeline for how quickly the malware will be removed cannot be provided, as it depends on the severity of the malware and the number of potentially infected computers that could also be affected. Admin By Request helps to reduce the likelihood of malware being installed on College-provided computers assigned to faculty and staff.

What happens if a computer in a classroom/cluster becomes infected?

• If you are using a College-provided computer in the computer clusters or classrooms and you believe that it is infected with malware, please report the issue to ResNet (resnet@saintmarys.edu). Information Technology staff will arrange for the malware to be removed and/or for the computer to be reimaged.

In a networked environment such as Saint Mary's College (including ResNet), the ease with which malware can spread from computer to computer is greatly multiplied, as is its potential for damage. Instead of affecting just your machine, malware could spread to hundreds of computers all over campus, and could even bring down our campus network. Recognizing this threat, the College provides Bitdefender security software free of cost to all students, faculty, and staff for their personally-owned computers. Any student who connects her computer to the Saint Mary's network must install security protection software and keep it up to date. Failure to have current security protection software on your computer may result in the loss of BelleNet, eduroam, DeviceNet, and Guest network access privileges. Bitdefender security software is available for both macOS and Windows computers. Instructions for installing security protection software on your personally-owned Mac or Windows computer connected to ResNet can be found at http://www.saintmarys.edu/virus.

Windows	Mac
Bitdefender Total Security (Compatible with Microsoft Windows 11)	Bitdefender Total Security (Compatible with macOS version 13 or later)

Windows	Mac
Bitdefender Total Security for Windows	Bitdefender Total Security for Mac

Virus Hoaxes

There are a lot of viruses out there. And then there are some viruses that aren't really out there at all. There are many e-mail messages floating around the Internet that claim to be viruses and are nothing more than hoaxes. The problem with these messages is that people keep forwarding the messages to all their friends, and the message ends up spreading as if it was a virus. Hoax virus warning messages are more than mere annoyances. After repeatedly becoming alarmed, only to learn that there was no real virus, computer users may get into the habit of ignoring all virus warning messages, leaving them especially vulnerable to the next real, and truly destructive, virus.

If you receive an e-mail that warns you of a virus that you can get via reading an e-mail message, check it out before panicking and forwarding it to everyone you know - it may be a hoax!

(Never open an e-mail attachment unless you know what it is — even if it is from someone you know and trust.)

To learn if a virus warning is a hoax or not, consult these sources identifying virus hoaxes:

• http://www.snopes.com/

Questions about virus protection?

• If you are a student, please contact ResNet for assistance:
  
  
  • Visit the ResNet Office in 011 Cushwa-Leighton Library.
  • E-mail ResNet at resnet@saintmarys.edu.
  • Call ResNet at (574) 284-5319.
  • Fill out a ResNet Problem Report Form at fixit.saintmarys.edu.

  The ResNet Office hours are posted on the ResNet website at http://www.saintmarys.edu/resnet. The ResNet Office is not physically open during academic breaks, including the summer.

• If you are a faculty or staff member, please contact the Helpdesk for assistance:
  
  
  • Visit the Helpdesk in 011 Cushwa-Leighton Library.
  • E-mail the Helpdesk at helpdesk@saintmarys.edu.
  • Call the Helpdesk at (574) 284-4715.

  Helpdesk is open Monday through Friday, 8:00am to 5:00pm, during the academic year when classes are in session. During academic breaks, the Helpdesk is closed 12:00pm - 1:00pm to allow our staff a lunch break, and the Helpdesk closes at 4:30pm.

Last Modified August 16, 2025